Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Dynamics of letter string perception in the human occipitotemporal cortex.

A Tarkiainen1, P Helenius, P C Hansen

  • 1Brain Research Unit, Low Temperature Laboratory, Helsinki University of Technology, Finland. att@neuro.hut.fi

Brain : a Journal of Neurology
|November 5, 1999
PubMed
Summary

The left inferior occipitotemporal cortex is crucial for rapid visual word processing, activating within 200 milliseconds. This brain region shows specialized responses to letter strings, differentiating fluent readers from others.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Perceiving intimidation through kinematic cues in men's gait.

Scientific reports·2025
Same author

Children at risk for dyslexia show deficient left-hemispheric memory representations for new spoken word forms.

NeuroImage·2021
Same author

Dynamic Time-Locking Mechanism in the Cortical Representation of Spoken Words.

eNeuro·2020
Same author

Empathy and aversion: the neural signature of mentalizing in Tourette syndrome.

Psychological medicine·2016
Same author

Optimal spatial filtering for brain oscillatory activity using the Relevance Vector Machine.

Cognitive processing·2013
Same author

Differences in eye-movement patterns between anorexic and control observers when judging body size and attractiveness.

British journal of psychology (London, England : 1953)·2011

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Visual Processing

Background:

  • The inferior occipitotemporal cortex, particularly the left hemisphere, is implicated in processing written words.
  • Word processing is thought to occur within 200 milliseconds of stimulus presentation.
  • Potential differences in brain activation exist between fluent and dyslexic readers.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the spatiotemporal dynamics of brain processes during visual letter string presentation.
  • To examine the role of the inferior occipitotemporal cortex in early visual word recognition.
  • To differentiate brain responses to letters, syllables, words, and symbols.

Main Methods:

  • Whole-head magnetoencephalography (MEG) was used to record brain activity in 12 healthy adults.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Stimuli included single letters, two-letter syllables, four-letter words, and symbol strings with added noise.
  • Analysis focused on identifying distinct temporal and spatial patterns of brain activation.

    • Main Results:

    • Three distinct response patterns were observed at different time points and locations.
    • An early visual response (approx. 100 ms) involved areas around V1 and the ventral visual stream, sensitive to noise.
    • A later response (approx. 150 ms) in the left inferior occipitotemporal region showed preference for letter strings and correlated with reading speed.

    Conclusions:

    • The left inferior occipitotemporal cortex plays a specialized role in visual word processing within 200 ms.
    • Distinct neural processes underlie early visual analysis and later, content-specific word recognition.
    • MEG provides high temporal resolution to study the rapid dynamics of visual word processing.